The Strengthened Safeguards System- Where Do We Stand?

With the approval by the IAEA Board of Governors and General Conference in 1997 of the \"Model Protocol Additional to the Agreement(s) between State(s) and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards\" (the Additional Protocol) the Agency has been challenged to implement the Strengthened Safeguards System. The Additional Protocol is the most important part of it and, by the end of 1998, 36 countries had signed the Protocol, in addition to the six States in which a Protocol has entered into force; in one of them provisionally. In Taiwan, the measures of the Protocol are being applied, after exchange of letters. A large number of countries are in consultation with the Agency, in preparation for their signature. However, the transition from the comprehensive safeguards agreements to the agreements plus Protocol will, for many States, require some more time. Hence, implementation of the Protocol rights is currently still limited to a very small number of countries. It must not be forgotten that, in 1995, the IAEA had identified a set of the additional measures under the existing comprehensive safeguards agreements. Most of these have in the meantime, become part of the safeguards agreements and, as such, part of regular verification activities. The paper will provide an up-to-date status of the situation as it presents itself in mid-1999, including the Agency's experience with the past and present integration of Part 1 measures into on-going verification activities, and with the work concerning the integration of Protocol measures.